Founder and Leader of Royal Ladies Ministries International, Apostle Rita Korankye Ankrah, has opened up about some of the toughest moments of her secondary school years, including an unusual incident in which kerosene accidentally spilled into her gari after she moved from Accra to the Volta Region.

Recalling her early years in a Channel One TV interview on September 27, 2026, the wife of Sam Korankye Ankrah, Founder of Royalhouse Chapel International in Accra, said she grew up in Accra and attended St Mary’s Secondary School from Form One to Form Five.

However, after her O-level results did not turn out as expected, she had to rewrite the examinations and subsequently moved to Zion Secondary School, then known as Zion College, in Anloga in the Volta Region.

She said the move marked a major adjustment because she was accustomed to life in Accra.

According to Rita, a family friend of her parents recommended Zion Secondary School, saying students who went there to rewrite their examinations often performed well.

“When I had to rewrite my exams to better my results, I found myself in the Volta Region. A family friend of my parents came and said, oh, I have a school in the Volta Region in Anloga, I had never heard of Anloga before", she recounted.

She also saw the move as an opportunity to distance herself from the distractions of Accra.

“For some reason, I was tired of Accra. I had too many friends in Accra. You know, there was too much going on in Accra.

“So, let me move out of Accra. Perchance, God will shine on me and I’ll pass my exams,” she narrated.

According to her, settling into her new environment was far from easy.

Rita described her time at the school as a “wilderness” and “desert situation”, particularly because of the stark difference between life in Accra and what she encountered in Angloga.

“I mean, if you have grown up in Accra all your life, and all of a sudden, you find yourself there. No light, no electricity, no pipe-borne water,” she recalled.

The students had to rely on lanterns to study, something she had not been accustomed to.

She also recalled how unfamiliar she was with handling kerosene during her first days at the school.

“I remember my first time going to secondary school there. I didn’t even know how to handle kerosene,” she said.

That unfamiliarity resulted in an unfortunate incident involving one of the foods she had brought from Accra.

“By the time I got to school, kerosene had poured into my gari,” she recalled.

With supplies from Accra difficult to replace, Rita said she resorted to an unusual solution.

“I dried my gari in the sun and I ate it,” she said.

She explained that communication and transportation between Accra and the Volta Region were much more difficult at the time, making it impractical to simply ask her parents to send another supply.

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She said letters to Accra could take so long to arrive that by the time her parents received one, students could already have gone on vacation.

Despite the difficult conditions, Rita's time at Zion Secondary School eventually became significant for another reason.

At about 19 years old, she attended a revival organised at the school after hearing that people were coming from Accra to preach.

She said the arrival of the visitors generated considerable excitement among the students.

During the revival, she heard a message about being born again and was among the first to respond when an invitation was given to those who wanted to give their lives to Christ.

Rita said the experience eventually became an important turning point in her life.

JKB/VPO

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